Consumer, Business and Community Behaviour and Management (CBCBM)
A multi-disciplinary perspective on sustainable business practices and on consumers influence on sustainability as users of products and services
In an ideal world, all products and services should be ethically created and provided with sustainability embedded through the supply chain, and there should no inequality and exploitation between and within societies and communities. Although peoples’ attitudes toward aspects of sustainability vary widely, with some valuing the environment more, whilst others human rights, increasingly consumers and the community expect public, private and third sector businesses, organisations, institutions to operate in ethical and sustainable ways. Sustainable business thus supports responsible practice, leadership and management.
The CBCBM cluster adopts a multi-disciplinary perspective to focus on current sustainable business practices and management and on consumers and the community’s influence on sustainability as users of products and services. In doing so, it entails the application of theoretical and practical knowledge derived from a range of disciplines including marketing, tourism, operations and business management, leadership, entrepreneurship and human resource management, to considerations of environmental and social sustainability. In addition, CBCBM employs a multi-stakeholder approach by bringing consumers, business and community together to collaborate in participatory decision making via constructive dialogues, negotiation, persuasion, communication, and implementation of responses to jointly perceived problems.
Our work is funded from a number of sources including Defra, British Academy, ESRC and the European Commission. We co-produce research with various stakeholders in business, government and civil society and are strongly placed to advise sectors within workplace fairness and equality, healthcare, and tourism and hospitality, and in a range of other contexts where policy-makers must incentivise decision-making to create community-oriented, socially responsible and environmentally friendly businesses.
The cluster covers a wide range of topics, including but not limited to
- Sustainable consumption and production, impacts, market research and consumer studies;
- Sustainability, consumer / user behaviour, the intention-action gap and persuasion;
- Organisation and personal leadership, people management, role and identity, governance and business ethics, motivations, barriers and challenges;
- Safety, crisis management and safer environments, risk and business continuity management;
- Community engagement, capacity building, collaboration and collective action;
- Deprivation and social change;
- Sustainability and marketing; and,
- Innovative sustainable business models.
CBCBM is currently comprised of the below inter-related research initiatives
Responsible Decision Making and Leadership (RDML)
A cross-disciplinary approach to researching responsible decision making and leadership. Led by Dr Hanne Knight.
Journey Place Narrative (The JPN Lab)
Exploring narrative, film and literary texts and the discourses surrounding the formation of place knowledge, experience and value creation. Led by Dr Charles Mansfield.
Centre for Coastal Communities
Expertise in coastal economic performance, deprivation, migration, educational underperformance, displaced populations, health and social care, the blue economy, plastic pollution and economic, social and environmental policy for coastal communities.
Paternal experiences during the pandemic and fatherhood forfeits
Early themes
"This study explores parental experiences during the pandemic from both the individual and couple perspective to establish any key learnings that can be utilised to increase gender equality between parents. Specifically, it seeks to understand the experiences of fathers during the pandemic and to establish if there has been any potential impact upon the previously observed ‘fatherhood forfeits’ which have been found to be faced by fathers within the workplace." Dr Jasmine Kelland
Plymouth Business School
Top 10 global business school (Financial Times Business School Teaching Power Rankings 2021)
Plymouth Business School is an enterprising environment driving sustainable prosperity, enabling our students and partners to achieve their full potential.
Our research-active school works in partnership with industry and organisations across the world to provide students with high-quality undergraduate and postgraduate degrees.
